the prestige | ON HIATUS

17 | luna's teacher

On Sunday morning, Luna woke up feeling refreshed. Her Saturday was full of practice and couch time. A nice day off to calm down after Oliver's party.

So after eating breakfast, Luna hopped on her bicycle. She cycled three blocks down to a house that looked on the brink on collapsing.

She left her bicycle on the front porch and entered the house without knocking.

"Doctor Dalia, I'm here!" Luna said loudly and she set her double case down on the torn up couch.

A woman wearing an oversized shirt and a pair of sweatpants walked in slowly. She adjusted her glasses and yawned.

"Have you had tea yet, Luna?" the woman asked.

Luna shook her head.

"No, Dalia." Luna replied.

"Good. Today we'll be having jasmine tea." said the teacher.

"Alright."

Dalia retreated to her kitchen to take her tea off the stove. She quickly poured it into two mugs and returned to the living room.

Luna opened her case to reveal both her violin and viola. She took one of the cups of tea and took a long sip.

"We'll start with Debussy and then move on to Paganini. How's the quartet coming along?" asked Dalia.

Luna took out her violin bow and began tightening the hair. Her teacher grabbed a photo from the coffee table and held it in her hand.

"How many days has it been, Dalia?" Luna asked the woman, who held the picture tight to her chest.

"Three thousand six hundred and ninety-two days." Dalia said flatly.

The woman held the photo tight in her hands and looked at it wistfully.

"I'm sure James is still in love with music." Luna said.

Dalia nodded.

"Of course he is, James is my son after all." Dalia said casually.

Dalia loves her son more than anything in the world. His violin skills were impeccable and his love for music was never-ending.

Dalia was counting the days.

James died three thousand six hundred and ninety-two days ago.

Six-year-old Luna knocked on the door of her lesson teacher's home.

"Doctor Dalia, Doctor Dalia! I'm here."

After a few moments, a young boy opened the door. He smiled and clapped his hands together.

"Luna!" he exclaimed.

"Hello, James! I'm here for a lesson!" Luna said.

The boy stepped aside and let Luna inside the house.

"Luna, I turn seven next week and my mum said I could get a new violin for my birthday!" James said excitedly.

Luna smiled and put down her case, which was bigger than her body.

"That's great are you going to move up to a three quarters sized violin?" Luna asked.

James shrugged.

"Mum thinks I should, but I'm scared I won't be able to reach the notes." James said with a sad tone.

Luna shook her head.

"You're still going to grow! Even if you can't reach it yet, you will someday." Luna said reassuringly.

"One day, we'll both be able to play full-sized violins! I'll be able to play a full-sized viola!"

James nodded with a smile.

"You're right. One day we'll be soloists and play together!" James said happily.

Dalia walked in and gave her son a hug.

"That you will be dearest. Go practice in your room while Luna has a lesson." Dalia said softly.

"Okay, mum. Bye, Luna!"

Luna walked into her lesson three weeks later after her teacher canceled the past two weekends. She had no idea why, but Wendy told her daughter to be polite and to stay more reserved for her lesson.

Dalia sat on the couch with a cup of tea steaming from her hand. Her cheeks were stained red and she kept sniffling.

Luna took out her viola for this lesson and looked at her teacher. Dalia was saying nothing which made young Luna concerned.

"Doctor Dalia, are you okay?" Luna asked innocently.

Dalia put down her tea on the coffee table and leaned in front of Luna. She took the viola and set it down gently on the table with the bow, leaving Luna empty-handed.

She put her hands on Luna's shoulder and sighed.

"Luna, James isn't going to be around anymore." Dalia said.

Luna frowned and shook her head in confusion.

"Well, where did he go? I hope he took his violin with him!" Luna said without any understanding.

"No, Luna. Do you remember Pickles? Our cat that used to walk by your feet during your first lessons?" Dalia asked.

"Yes, you said he went to heaven because he got really sick. I miss Pickles." Luna said.

Dalia nodded.

"Well, Luna, James got really sick like Pickles. He went to heaven too, last Saturday." Dalia choked with tears in her eyes.

Luna was struggling to grasp the words from her teacher.

"James is in heaven? James is... dead?" Luna asked.

Dalia nodded.

"I'm afraid so, Luna."

Luna took her last sip of tea at the end of her lesson.

"I'm going to leave this in the sink, Dalia." Luna said. She went to the kitchen and left the mug in the sink with the rest of the dirty dishes.

Her lesson was productive and Luna was seeing progress in her playing. She was positive her end of the year performance would go well.

Luna's attention was taken away when a photo caught her eye.

It was a photo of Dalia Denman's first two students. There were of course more, but the two that started her career as a teacher held a special place in her heart.

Her son, James Denman, and her most passionate student, Luna Lim.

Luna saw James for the last time when she was six years old. It had been about ten years later. She never got to know James very well, but she knew he wanted to be a soloist.

They both wanted to do it together.

So Luna vowed to perform a concerto for James.

She returned to the living room and closed her case.

"Dalia, will you come to our concert at the end of this year?" Luna asked.

Dalia glanced up at her student.

"I'm sure they'd be unhappy to see me." the woman said flatly.

Luna sighed.

"At least think about it." Luna replied as she put her case on her back.

Dalia sighed and looked down at the picture of James in her hand.

"I'll give it some thought."

author's note:

felt like writing a sad chapter. more to come soon.